According to Chairman of the Slovenian Trade and Industry Chamber Ales Cantarutti, the volume of Slovenian products export to Russia already dropped by 13% within the January-September period

LJUBLJANA, September 04. /ITAR-TASS/. Additional European Union’s sanctions against Russia might have an extremely detrimental effect on the national economy of Slovenia, Ales Cantarutti, the chairman of the Slovenian Trade and Industry Chamber, said on Thursday.

“I believe that the price of this crisis for Europe will be extremely high in the end,” Cantarutti said.

According to him, the volume of Slovenian products export to Russia already dropped by 13% within the January-September period and by the end of the year the financial damage caused by the drop in exports might total some €200 million (over $260 million).

Cantarutti said he believed that in case the European Union imposed additional sanctions against Russia, Moscow would most likely hit back with retaliatory sanctions, which would eventually lead to serious consequences.

Russia’s current sanctions, he said, are currently in force for agricultural sector, however, Moscow’s possible future sanctions might hit pharmaceutical and technological industries.

Under such scenario, Slovenia’s pharmaceutical company Krka and manufacturer of household appliances Gorenje may be hit by the sanctions. Both companies account for half of total Slovenian products exported to Russia.

In response to Western sanctions, President Vladimir Putin signed a decree on August 6 to ban for one year the imports of agricultural, raw and food products from the countries, which imposed sanctions against Russia.